Start Timer Event

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A Start Timer Event object starts a Request for a Process at a specified time or at a periodic interval. A Start Timer Event object cannot have an incoming Sequence Flow object. Use this object to indicate that a Request for that Process must begin at a specific date and time, such as on an employee’s employment anniversary to schedule a performance review. A Process model can have multiple Start Timer Event objects.

Add a Start Timer Event to a Process

Permissions

  • Processes: Edit Processes

  • Processes: View Processes

See the Process permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.

Your user account or group membership must have the following permissions to configure a Start Timer Event object in the Process model unless your user account has the Make this user a Super Admin setting selected:

Processes: Edit Processes

Processes: View Processes

See the Process permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.

Add a Start Timer Event object from one of the following locations in Process Modeler:

  • Object Panel: Located to the left of the Process Modeler, the Object Panel contains various process modeling objects.

  • Object Bar: Located at the bottom of the Process Modeler, the Object Bar contains pinned Process modeling objects for quick access.

Follow these steps to add a Start Timer Event from the Object panel to the Process model:

  1. Ensure that the Object panel is visible. If not, click the Add icon from the Object bar at the bottom.

  2. Click the Start Event object from the Object panel to select it.

  3. Click the location in the Process model to place this object. If your process has a Pool object, the object cannot be placed outside of the Pool.

  4. Click the Objects drop-down menu, and then select the Start Timer Event option.

    The Start Timer Event object displays.  

Follow these steps to add a Start Timer Event object from the Object bar to the Process model:

  1. Ensure that the object is pinned to the Object bar. If not, see instructions to pin it.

  2. In the Object bar at the bottom center, click the object's icon.

  3. Click the location in the Process model to place this object. If your process has a Pool object, the object cannot be placed outside of the Pool.

  4. Click the Objects drop-down menu, and then select the Start Timer Event option.

    The Start Timer Event object displays.  

Replace a Start Timer Event Object with a Different Starting Request Event Object

After a Start Timer Event object is added to a Process model, you may replace it with a different starting Request event object:

The selected Start Timer Event object is replaced by the default settings and color of the replacing object.

Follow these steps to replace a Start Timer Event object with a different Start-type event object:

  1. Select the Start Timer Event object to change to another Start-type event object. Available options display above the selected object.

  2. Click the Objects icon. The Objects drop-down menu displays the Start-type event objects.

  3. Select the object to replace the Start Timer Event object. The Change Type screen displays to confirm replacing the currently selected object.

  4. Click Confirm. The new object replaces the Start Timer Event object with its default settings and color.

Settings

The Start Timer Event object has the following panels that contain settings:

Properties Panel Settings

Edit the Object Name

An object name is a human-readable reference for a Process object. Process Modeler automatically assigns the name of a Process object with its object type. However, an object's name can be changed.

Follow these steps to edit the name for a Start Timer Event object:

  1. Select the Start Timer Event object from the Process model in which to edit its name.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. The Name setting displays. This is a required setting.

  3. In the Name setting, edit the selected object's name and then press Enter.

Timing Control Panel Settings

When a Start Timer Event object is placed into a Process model, it has the following settings by default before it triggers:

  • The timing control is set to midnight of the current date.

  • The timing control is set to repeat weekly on the current day.

If these are not the timing control settings you want, the Start Timer Event object must be configured. Set the timer controls for a Start Timer Event object using the following parameters:

  • Set the date and hour when the trigger the Start Timer Event object, thereby starting a Request.

  • Optionally, set an interval from which to periodically trigger the Start Time Event object, thereby staring a Request at that interval. This may be done in any of the following intervals:

    • Set the timer to periodically trigger on a specified number of days, weeks, months, or years.

    • Set the timer to periodically trigger on specific days of the week.

  • Set when the timer control ends from any of the following options, thereby limiting when to start a Request:

    • The timer never ends.

    • The timer ends on a specified date.

    • The timer ends after a number of occurrences.

Set the Timing Controls

Follow these steps to set the timer controls for a Start Timer Event object:

  1. Select the Start Timer Event object from the Process model in which to set its timer controls.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. Panels to configure this object display.

  3. Expand the Timing Control panel if it is not presently expanded. The Start date setting displays.

  4. From the Start date setting, use the date control to select the date to initially trigger the Start Timer Event object. If this setting has not been previously set, the current date is the default.  

  5. Set the periodic interval to trigger the Start Timer Event object again, thereby starting a new Request. Follow these guidelines:

    • From the Repeat every setting, select at how many intervals of a set time period to trigger the Start Timer Event object. 1 week is the default setting. Then select one of the following time periods for that object to trigger:

      • Day

      • Week (default setting)

      • Month

      • Year

    • Alternatively, select from the Repeat on setting the day(s) of the week in which to trigger the Start Timer Event object. Selected days display with a blue-colored circle around each.

  6. Set when to end the timer control from the following options:

    • Select Never to never end the timer control. Never is the default setting.

    • Select On to select a specific date in which to end the timer control. If this setting has not been previously set, the current date is the default.

    • Select After and then enter how many occurrences to end the timer control after the Start Timer Event object has triggered that may times. If this setting has not been previously set, 1 is the default setting.

Documentation Panel Settings

Describe the object's purpose and how it functions in the Process. This description does not affect Requests for the Process, but may be useful for Process model maintenance such as how the object is configured. Edit information by using the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) rich text editor.

A Process's entered documentation displays by selecting the View Documentation icon for that Process.

Edit the Object Documentation

Follow these steps to edit the description for an object:

  1. Select the object from the Process model in which to edit its description.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. Panels to configure this object display.

  3. Expand the Documentation panel if it is not presently expanded. The Description setting displays.

  4. In the Description setting, edit the information to display when viewing documentation for this object and then press Enter. Alternatively, use the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) rich text editor to stylize your text by clicking the More icon.

    Follow these guidelines to use the WYSIWYG rich text editor to stylize your text:

    • Undo changes: Click on theicon to undo the last action.

    • Redo changes: Click on theicon to redo the last undone action.

    • Insert/Edit Link: Click on theicon to convert the selected text into a hyperlink. Follow these steps to create a hyperlink:

      1. Select the required text from the Rich Text control.

      2. Click on theicon. The Insert/Edit Link screen displays.  

      3. In the URL setting, enter the destination URL.

      4. In the Text to display setting, edit or enter the text displayed in the Rich Text control.

      5. In the Title setting, enter the text to display when a user hovers over the displayed text.

      6. From Open link in… drop-down menu, select one of these options:

        • New window: Select this option to open the destination page in a new browser window.

        • Current window: Select this option to open the destination page in the current browser window.

    • Insert/Edit Image: Click on the Insert/Edit Image iconto insert an image. Follow these guidelines:

      1. Click on the Insert/Edit Image icon.

      2. The Insert/Edit Image screen displays:  

      3. In the Source setting, enter a URL for the image.

      4. In the Alternative Description setting, enter the text to display if the source URL of the image is not accessible.

      5. In the Width setting, enter the maximum width for the image.

      6. In the Height setting, enter the maximum height for the image.

      7. Toggle the Constrain Proportions iconto maintain the width-height ratio of the image to its original proportion.

      8. Click Save.

    • Insert Page Break for PDF: Click on the Insert Page Break for PDF iconto insert a page break when a PDF document is created for this documentation if your browser supports this feature.

    • Format text: Follow these guidelines to format text:

      • Headings: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Headings and then select a heading size.

      • Bold: Do one of the following:

        • From the editor toolbar, select theicon.

        • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Bold.

      • Italics: Do one of the following:

        • From the editor toolbar, select theicon.

        • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Italic.

      • Underline: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Underline.

      • Strikethrough: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Strikethrough.

      • Superscript: From the Paragraph/ Formats menu, select Inline and then Superscript.

      • Subscript: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Subscript.

      • Code: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Inline and then Code.

      • Paragraph: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Paragraph.

      • Blockquote: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Blockquote.

      • Division: From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Div.

      • Preformatted:  From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Blocks and then Pre.

      • Change text color: Use the Text Color drop-down to change text color. Click on theicon. The color palette displays. Do one of the following:

        • Select one of the color swatches from the color palette. The selected text changes to that color.

          • Click theicon to select a custom color from the Color Picker.

          • Click theicon to reset the text to its default color.

      • Align text: Follow these guidelines to align text:

        • Left align: Do one of the following:

          • From the editor toolbar, use theicon to left-align text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Left.

        • Center align: Do one of the following:

          • From the editor toolbar, use theicon to center-align text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Center.

        • Right align: Do one of the following:

          • From the editor toolbar, use theicon to right-align text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Right.

        • Justify: Do one of the following:

          • From the editor toolbar, use theicon to justify text.

          • From the Paragraph/Formats menu, select Align and then Justify.

      • Insert a bullet list: Use theicon to format text as a bulleted list.

      • Insert a numbered list:  Use theicon to format text as a numbered list.

      • Indent text: Click on theicon to increase text indenting.

      • Outdent text: Click on theicon to decrease text indenting.

Advanced Panel Settings

Edit the Node's Identifier Value

Process Modeler automatically assigns a unique value to each Process node added to a Process model. However, a node's identifier value can be changed if it is unique to all other nodes in the Process model, including the Process model's identifier value.

All identifier values for all nodes in the Process model must be unique.

Follow these steps to edit the identifier value for a Start Timer Event object:

  1. Select the Start Timer Event object from the Process model in which to edit its identifier value.

  2. Ensure that the Configuration panel displays. If not, show it. Panels to configure this object display.

  3. Expand the Advanced panel if it is not presently expanded. The Node Identifier setting displays. This is a required setting.

  4. In the Node Identifier setting, edit the Start Timer Event object's identifier to a unique value from all nodes in the Process model and then press Enter.